16 June 2007

General Stark Mountain (part 2)

The Long Trail

Camel's Hump State Forest

A little reminder of what I am not prepared for and should be when
hiking in the east. I hadn't even occurred to me to bring rain gear
for the trip, must less for a hike that started with such a clear
sky. These never did get to be threatening that particular day.

There's a shelter here. I'm not sure how short the shortcut is
compared to the usual way. It's also very very hard to follow and I
wouldn't like to go through that cleft if it was slick from rain.

This is the actual trail, marked by blue paint. The Long Trail is
marked by white paint.

And for people who actually want to get there, this is the real
route to the shelter. And the other direction to the toilet.

And here is the next ladder challenge. First up the roots right in
front here and then over to the ladder to get further up the rock.
This trail didn't really go up and down too much though steadily one
way or the other, but every now and then it really just took off in
upward fashion.

This structure would be the perfect size and shape for an emergency
shelter for one person. Just get your mummy bag in there and you
could be quite happy in a snow storm. Except that someone's left the
nails sticking down from the shingling and you'll probably need a
tetanus shot before the night is up. So it's probably just for
storage. A later one was even storing ski poles.

This is the top of the mountain. Again, one can only see out
because it has been cleared for skiing. The lift to here had been
dismantled at some point earlier.

Panorama view of the Green Mountain State to the east of General
Stark Mountain. Foreground objects are just the pits, as illustrated
by the straight railing that appears on the left and right of the
picture as though it has a big right angle in the middle. I had to
blow up the two on the bottom right, but the rightmost one is just
adding some green anyway.

The other side isn't cleared by the ski joint or viewable from a
raised platform which also helps in being able to see the landscape
beyond the nearby trees.

Moss and fern and pine all fight for the same spaces as they pop
out of the littered floor. Cute little mushrooms too.

On the way back, I went ahead and had a look at this shelter. It
leans, um, a little to the left. It is maintained by volunteers in
the area and they would like it if you paid $5 to stay in it.

It also mentions where to find (seasonal) water and a map showing
the shortcut which doesn't really look shorter. I tried following
the shortcut, but I only found the water. I also found the rocks
were slippery near the water. I lost the trail of blue paint blazes
after the one on the long fallen tree.

The observant may have noticed the sign also claimed there was a
panorama around here too. This was quite true and I had a nice bit of
lunch with a clear view out to the northeast. This time offered by an
outcropping of rock over a fairly sheer drop instead of the actions of
man and his chain saw.

After failing to follow the shortcut from the other side, I tried
from the trail side since these blazes don't move around. It dives
right into a cleft in the rock. There's plenty of room to stand, but
also plenty of room to drop everything you own and perhaps yourself.
The other side of the cleft didn't go anywhere unless you count the
almost reachable overhang of rock that was probably the trail. I
didn't manage to follow it from this side either. This is a look
down.

And this is where I get annoyed at my batteries deciding they
didn't actually have much charge in them in the first place. And
perhaps I was still a little bit shaking from being startled by this
very strange creature. It had front legs and no back legs! It was a
legged snake legless lizard... or something. It also wasn't moving
very fast because it is actually a snake that's just grabbed itself a
very large meal. Sticking out of his mouth are the back legs of a
frog. When it moved, it tried to keep the whole of its gorged portion
up off the ground and it didn't seem to be working out the best.
Anyway, there he is. Legs in front, a bulge just like most lizards,
but no legs in back and the longest tail you ever saw on a lizard. A
gorged snake.

And then back again. The trail starts up the mountain to the north
right there in the center. And the third car along would be my very
huge Subaru station wagon because apparently the rental place wanted
me to look very much like a Vermont native. But it was a "PZEV",
which I guess is sort of the California in it. So hop in that and
meander on down to West Lebanon. At least if you're me on that
day.

Don't forget to check the sign-in sheet on the way out so they know
you're not lost up there somewhere.